Monday, May 2, 2011

A Market Highlights-Part 1

Every High Point market my intention is to show the transformation of our showroom start to finish, but somewhere in the craziness of the preparations I get to the opening day and say the same thing again, "I should have taken photos of this place before!"

This time, in part thanks to Mr. Bob Timberlake, a true creative spirit, incredible artist, and part marketing genius, I finally did it. Bob kept saying to us as we were in product development meetings how he wished we had captured the entire creative process of bringing product to market. He wished we could show our customers how much goes into the design process and showroom creation so that they could understand better how things come to life and appreciate how much work goes into one piece of furniture.

I have watched this showroom transform every year since I can remember. When I was little my Mom used to load us up in the Suburban and drive us down to High Point twice a year to come see my Dad during furniture market as for the week or so of market this is where he lived. I remember the crowds, how important it all felt and the amazement of it all. As a kid it was kind of like Hollywood, lots of lights, flowers and important people in suits. It all seemed very glamorous.

Of course my perspective now working for Century is very different. Lugging a 40 lb chair or hanging point of sale material just doesn't make a girl feel very glamorous. However, from time to time I do stop myself and think about what goes into pulling together our showroom from product development all the way through to the finished rooms. Truth be told it is more like Hollywood than I ever realized at age six. What they are able to create and the feelings that they evoke through their films--pure magic. We too through our 80,000 square feet of showroom space are creating and trying to inspire our customers to see what a home can be and when it all comes together it is pretty magical.

The behind the scenes of anything is never very glamorous, but it is fascinating and as Bob Timberlake wished, I too wish it gives you a sense of how much goes into each piece of furniture we make. What follows are photos from the start almost a year and a half ago of our Timberlake product development all the way through to High Point market.